i’m currently reading through a low-res pdf proof copy and thought i’d best prepare you for the coming of Bedabbled!. Martin Jones’s new publication will appeal to our many British Horror film fiends, particularly those who, all these years later, still carry a torch for Vanessa ‘Girly’ Howard and the scary skull with the wandering eye from Blood On Satan’s Claw. The debut is a ‘Bloody kids’ special (#2 is Cult of Satan!) – and Martin writes in his introduction:

“The canny amongst you may have already guessed that Bedabbled! isn’t going to venture much further than, say, An American Werewolf In London in terms of years covered. You’d be right. Sorry, no Hellraiser, Dust Devil, etc. I can’t speak for other contributors, but it’s my intention to create a new mythology of British screen horror, and within these pages it’ll be done through what I consider to be the most interesting periods of film production this country ever encountered. Aside from the well-documented ‘big three’ (Hammer, Tigon, Amicus), there is a wealth of imaginative material to mine from countless movies (and TV productions) and the insane figureheads of this mag – Mumsy, Vampyres. Goodbye Gemini, Deep End, The Shout – will be featured in some form or another, alongside other works familiar and surprising.”

With the recent British Fantasy Journal howler fresh in mind, i’m not gonna attempt any kind of “review” until i know hard copies have made their way into the customers’ clutches, but i’m predicting a big future for this lively 32 pager. Our friend and colleague, Justin ‘Paperback Fanatic’ Marriott looks after the layout and print management duties, but he’s keen to stress that Bedabbled “is most definitely Martin’s baby” and as babies go, this one has more than a touch of the It’s Alive!‘s about it.

The magazine has no internet presence just yet, but you can order a copy from Martin from:

Dedicated to Charles Black. Particularly glad to see the classic Gregory Pendennis adventure, The Horror Of Dreadstone Moor, is finally available in its entirety, and that’s a tasty contributors list if past form is anything to go by. Details from Filthy Creations where you’ll also find work-in-progress versions of some of the stories.

Thanks to Franklin Marsh for supplying the contents list and cover scan.

Editorial:
Fanatical Mail – Paperback fanatics from around the world have their say!
AGRO! – The Fanatic continues its look at Hell’s Angels pulps
Thirty Years Behind The Typewriter – Classic Steve Holland interview with versatile author Peter Leslie
I’ve Been Up So Long – Fanatic interviews publishing maverick Mark Howell. The NEL editor’s reminiscences of life with Laurence James, Jim Moffatt, Peter Haining, Bob Tanner & Co.
The Lives And Loves Of James Moffatt – Fanatic investigates the many pen-names of Richard ‘Skinhead’ Allen
Take A Journey to Dimension X – The Fanatic studies the ‘Jeffrey Lord’ sword and sorcery series Blade
A Green Dog Trumpeting – The Fanatic interviews Ian Miller one of the most idiosyncratic and distinctive of all paperback artists whose work includes The Sucking Pit, Errol LeCale’s Zombie, and the striking covers for the Panther reprints of Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness and The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward.

Justin Marriott again on Barry Sadler, the man responsible for not only the Casca the Mercenary pulps but also the rabid pro-‘Nam US smash hit single The Ballad Of The Green Beret (!!!)

Roy Bayfield on Ballantine’s Adult Fantasy books’.

Justin (“I’m leaving to everyone else this issue”) Marriott on versatile and ludicrously prolific pulpster John Harvey whose credits include the Herne The Hunter series and a collaboration with Laurence James on the elusive snuff exploitation job Cut.

Disappearing ladies, off licences on the sites of ancient temples, birds who charge tolls and one’s that stalk with the pigeon hordes. All this and a couple of nasty trips underground. What more could you want from a Bank Holiday Weekend?

Magic you say? We’ll we’ve got that as well in this edition of One Eye Grey which, in contrast to all the anniversary celebrations connected with Paris sixty eight, remains resolutely London two and eight.

“One Eye Grey is a collaborative effort bringing together people who fancied creating something chilling and pocket sized to read on the tube … ”

What a wonderful concept! Maybe they could throw in a can of Super strength to Circle Line ravers with next issue, The Arsenal Stadium Mystery?

In the spirit of the thing, I’ve been saving this specifically for my infrequent tube journeys, hoping that someone in the same carriage will be reading a copy which, you must admit, would be a caper!

Includes:

Richard Burdett – Bird Man: “A figure sauntered along the fields at 125 mph and looked at me, his eyes lightening in a blurred landscape. He walked straight through a man who was watching the train pass, leaving a brief pink mist. And he laughed. A woman down the coached coughed, then burst into flames ….

A pigeon-poisoner’s progress. The narrator reassures himself that Roger the tramp is a mental case prone to vivid hallucinations when he tells him about the Birdman and why he’s so grateful to Ken Livingstone for ridding Trafalgar Square of it’s pigeon population, After the terrible incident in Yorkshire, however, he no longer has the luxury of incredulity.

Benjamin Jones – Goin’ Underground: Editor Chris Roberts calls it right in his notes: “A welcome addition to the London legends of underground troglodyte communities who live off discarded burgers and unguarded commuters….”

It’s approaching midnight when a tube train arrives at Moorgate station minus one carriage. Guards Paulie, Jono, Dennis and narrator Steve enter the tunnel to see what’s become of it – and wish they hadn’t. Reads like a shudder pulp in miniature without the Scoobie Doo ‘rational’ ending and, like Mark Samuels’ Sentinels, Ron Weighell’s The Tunnel Of Saksaksalum and Robert Barbour Johnson’s ‘thirties classic Far Below, a delightfully unpleasant treat for Death Line/ Creep enthusiasts, although Ben has since informed me he doesn’t go a bundle on the latter film.

Emily Cleaver – The Second Cellar: Ok, so I cheated a bit with this one. I still had three pages to go when I got off the train so I completed it on a bench outside Tower Hill station. Just thought I’d best come clean about that.

Prof. Eckersley investigates a roadworks in the shadow of St. Giles Church where a 200 year old cellar has collapsed, exposing another beneath. Fantasising that – at last! – he’s about to make a significant archaeological find, Eckersley inadvisedly explores the premises after dark. It is located slap in the middle of what once was the Rookeries, home to the days beggars, cripples and desperately impoverished, and not all of them are at rest even now ….

Right. Stuff in your strongest stomach because the eagerly awaited ‘When Animals Attack!’ special is finally upon us, 14 glorious glossy A4 sides devoted to the ‘Nasty’ creature feature novels that proliferated in the wake of James Herbert’s sex, gore and social commentary smash The Rats. As with the rest of the magazine, the article is offset with a plethora of cover reproductions treasury from the golden age. Even if you’ve never sampled the delights of Eat Them Alive, The Maggots, Worms, Night Killers or the mighty Crabs On The Rampage, you’ll qualify for the dreaded ‘overnight expert’ status once you’ve stomped and squelched your way through Justin’s crash course.

Following on from the Robert Lory scoop in the previous issue, an interview with Robert ‘Big Bob’ Tralins, a new name on me but responsible for a respectable stream of sexploitation and warped horrors for Popular, Belmont, Paperback Library and similar US cheapo publishers through the ‘swinging’ ‘sixties and ‘seventies. Sword & Sorcery he-men and she-women are well catered for with a Rivals Of Conan round-up and this issue also sees the conclusion of Legion Of The Damned, an exhaustive meditation on the joys of the pleasant, long-lived escapist Nazi war pulp craze. Finally, a welcome new feature is the self-explanatory Fanatical Thoughts – News, Updates, Letters, Gossip where various reprobates get to air their views.

For this reader, the best and most frustrating thing about Paperback Fanatic is that just when I think I can finally put a lid on all the genres I need to watch for when creepy crawling the junk-shops, Mr. Marriott will write something utterly intriguing about some old pile of rubbish or other and I’ll be all ‘Hmmm, but can I really live without Captive Of Gor‘?

* Perhaps I should attempt to explain the numbering system as it can get confusing. Issue 1 was Pulpmania!, issue 2 was Paperback Dungeon hence what I’ve always referred to as Paperback Fanatic #1 was actually #3.